The Incident
by Ice Cream Kid
Summary: Luigi on trial. Set in the Paper Mario-verse, post-Super Paper Mario. Also refetences Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario RPG, and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. This is a Luigi story but Mario is listed first in characters.
1. Witless-gathering

Luigi meandered around his stinky cell. His jittery pinched voice was hoarse from calling for help out the barred window, from pleading with the two Toads who stood guard, with their backs to him. Shaking from the churning sick feeling in his stomach that no one was coming to help, he plopped down on the itchy bed and counted the even, square-cut rectangle stones that made up the ceiling. The ceiling was way cleaner than the walls or floor, the ceiling reminded him of the buildings above ground bathed in bright sunshine and nurtured by routine maintenance.

It didn't take long for the smell to become overpowering and so he got up and flushed the rancid toilet for the fourth time with not a plunger in sight. He took another bite of a Wilted Shroom that the Toad guards had provided him. They weren't mean about it, in fact, they had placed the Wilted Shroom in his cell while quivering in silent alarm. It was strange they were so afraid of him: Luigi. Though he stood at a mere 168 cm, or about three Toads high, they were treating him on the same level as Bowser...no, not even Bowser-Bowser, for all his fearsomeness and beastness, was TOO familiar. A scary threat whenever he attacked, but Bowser was a known scary threat, a common scary threat, who also sometimes saved the world and had gained reputation for not being as scary a threat, since the new threat was ten times as scary. As for him, they were treating him, Luigi, as if he were..Grodus, or Fawful even...

Which was..well, absurd, since Luigi was unintimidatimgly pulling up his overalls because one of the straps came loose and his green shirt fell out, just when a staggered gait tapped aroud the corner and the small hard-hatted chestnut it belonged to tilted her head, a single sharp tooth revealing as she scrunched up a grimace.

"Uh..Luigi? Should I wait 'till your wardrobe situation's under control...?" asked the Goomba a lot less confidently than she had worked herself up to be as she had side-walked down the musty stone stairs. On one hand, it was just Luigi, Mario's brother. On the other hand, she was face-to-face with one who had, almost overnight, gained the reputation of a monster that would make the most cold-blooded Rogueport gangsters shrink into the very cracks in the wall out of sheer terror.

"Oh, sorry!" Luigi sweated in embarassment as he rebuttoned his overalls and straightened his green cap, the letter L on which was smudgy from the grime on the walls. "You're the Goomba who was hanging out with Bro at Rogueport!" Luigi exclaimed in his thick accent from.a faraway land which caused all of his r's to be rolled as he gripped the bars joyfully, crouched, and jumped, hitting his head on the ceiling, the force of which knocked him to the mold-encrusted floor. Ever since he got arrested by Mushroom Kingdom guards they hadn't said a word to him, and actively avoided even looking at him, so he was more than happy to converse with anyone at this point!

"Yep, that's me! Goombella, with my University of Goom advanced degree in archaeology and a 1,000,000 coin debt...so that means I'm your lawyer!" the chestnut with blonde hair conveyed to Luigi, who was still on the floor, dizzy.

"L-lawyer..? I-I'm going to trial?" Luigi stuttered, sitting up and grabbing both sides of his green cap as he rolled the upper half of his body around in circles. "Wh-wh-at did I even do?"

Goombella shook off her backpack and rummaged in it for her case file notes with her head.

"The Mushroom Kingdom is officially charging you with attempt to wipe out all worlds from existence."

"Oh nooo," Luigi got up and waved his white-gloved hands in fearful distress. "THAT'S what I was d-doing?!"

"Well, technically you helped wipe several worlds temporarily, so it was a completed crime, and that kind of big crime would mean, well, you know how like how Toads and other people with like, arms, can drag their finger across their throat meaning you-know-what? Yeah you'd totally have a date...with the famous fixture in Rogueport Square!" Luigi nearly passed out from fright at that news and he held his throat tenderly. "Buuuut, since the Mushroom Kingdom only has jurisdiction over Mushroom Kingdom, and not like Boswer's Castle which is why Bowser isn't in a totally yuck Mushroom Kingdom jail for the bajillion times he's kidnapped Princess Peach and also 'cause Mushroom Kingdom has like, zero defenses. If they wanted to, the Piantas or Robbos could take over Peach's Castle any day!"

"Are you threatening the Princess?!" Luigi yelled, startling Goombella with a suddenly aggressive fighting stance and dutifully angry eyes and closed fists.

"Uaahh! It's called, like a hypothetical!" Goombella explained as she skidded sideways backwards. The guards' polka dotted mushroom caps shivered. Normally they would cheer as the Mario Bros. stomped or smashed a Goomba, but this time was different, and one of the Toad guards took a step towards Goombella as if to shield her. Goombella gazed, freaked out, both by a Toad helping her and Luigi's sudden hostility and dropped trust despite her adventures at Mario's side, but regained her focus. "Um, anyway, you're still facing a looooooong time in this gross prison, due to attempted regicide, the attempted murder of a Mushroom Kingdom resident, which both apply when you're outside the kingdom, just so you know. And theft, since they're counting the Pure Heart you stole."

Luigi could do little else in response but to shake uncontrollably. He locked his knees and sank to them, horrified.

"But, that's why I'm here, to prove you were brainwashed like every other guy at that Count Guy's castle and you were like, a total mindless Count-loving zombie! That'll convince the Mushroom Kingdom to set you free!"

"Yay!" Luigi raised both his arms over his head happily and jumped, this time not hitting the ceiling and landed on his feet, at least he was wearing lucky socks. "Sooo, like I said before, I've got a biiiiiig student debt to settle, how about 1,000 coins as an advance fee?"

Luigi dug into his pockets, which the Mushroom guards hadn't touched, and reached down through the bars and the greasy coins slipped out of his fingers and landed on the Goomba's head.

"Ow! 40 coins?" Goombella counted the coins while holding them without arms and rolled her eyes framed by massive hairy eyebrows. "Ok, that's something, I guess. Ok! Let's start! Tell me what happened."

"Well, I-" Luigi started talking rapidly in his mother language and jumped up and down in one place on the moldy floor. "Waiwaiwaiwaiwait! Help a Goom out here! I only know how to speak Goombish and Toadish."

Luigi breathed out and went on, "..I was helping my Bro fight Bowser like always-"

"Wait! Like always? But sometimes Mario fights him by himself..! If I remember right you're usually home or on your own adventure!"

"Oh yeah, like the time I went to save Princess Eclair...but you know what I mean, right?"

"Right, it's probably no big deal if you exaggerate some stuff. Go on!"

"When Count Bleck pops out of somewhere and sucks in everyone except my Bro. I wake up in a big, dark room..."

"Hold on, you've got to talk about the wedding!" She winked, out of a personal girlish interest in what was the most gossiped-about union of the century.

"Oh..uh..yeah, uhh.." Luigi looked up and held his hairless chin in his hand while closing his eyes, thinking back. Goombella thought he looked a little dignified with his big, carefully-groomed 'stache, a strange contrast to his kind of oddball persobality and him basically challenging her for the Most Talkative award. "It was a really fancy affair, bells, an archway, all of Bowser's minions were there, the Princess was in an exquisite white dress, and Bowser in a white tux. He was really happy, but the Princess wasn't. She said her wedding vows like it wasn't her voice. The Chaos Heart appeared as soon as she said 'I do'. It was then I realized the wedding was a sham and Luigi had to stop it! So I sprang onto Bowser's head and then jumped on the Chaos Heart..."

"...You mean the ancient relic that would've permanently wiped out all worlds. You jumped on it."

"Yeah, it was a bad thing, so I jumped on it!" answered Luigi simplistically. Then the Chaos Heart flashed, Count Bleck ordered the darkness to consume everything, and then I woke up in a big black room with some baddies."

"How many and which baddies?"

"Two Goombas." Goombella was used to this by now, but she just kept telling herself that some Goombas were in fact, bad, and Luigi didn't mean ALL Goombas..."One's name was Gary...they asked my help to find a way out of the big black place, so I tried doing just that. We were getting really close to the exit when this blue lady and a bunch of brainwashed baddies backs us into a corner! The blue lady then lifts up her glasses and looks at Gary. Zap! Gary says 'HAIL BLECK' and goes over to the other brainwashed guys. His friend was so broken up over it, so he decided to turn traitor and went over to the Count without being brainwashed!"

"Oh, so there's like, another witness! But you don't know Gary's friend's name?"

"No, we were kind of in a rush to get out of that scary place. I only know Gary's name because his friend screamed it in despair as he saw Gary brainwashed right in front of his eyes!"

"Whoa..well that's still good news, Luigi!" chirped Goomvella, gathering up her backpack.

"How is it good news if we don't know the only Goomba who would've seen me after I was brainwashed and could tell if I was a Bleck-hailing vegetable or not?" Luigi fretted while waving his hands rapidly in numerous directions.

"Because we know Gary's name, so that means I can find his friend!"

"How?"

"I know people who know people who know people. Just sit tight, ok?"

With that Goombella sideways-ran out of the jail. Luigi backed up away from the barred door and sat down fearfully on the ragged, decrepit bed.

"Mario..." he whimpered.

Mario was unsuccessfully trying to scrub the shroom steak grease off of his overalls. He'd put on his good pair, which was only slightly less worn-out than his other pair of overalls. He normally didn't care much about his appearance and sometimes he let his hygiene slide, especially on long grueling quests, but he knew that his brother wasn't the only one who'd be scrutinized by the entire Mushroom Kingdom in that courtroom tomorrow, because he was a key witness. Mario wasn't worried about Luigi getting arrested. He himself had gotten arrested on the Isle of Delfino, and had to find the actual culprit to clear his name. The punishment, literally cleaning up the mess that the one who had really done it had left behind, wasn't too bad. But his brother was now facing years, and unlike when Bowser or some other guys imprisoned them, breaking out wasn't an option. Mushroom Kingdom was their home..their only home for a very long while now. If he broke out Luigi, it would be a betrayal of all the people of the Mushroom Kingdom, basically telling them their laws didn't matter and that his brother's freedom was more important than their lives...

"Is there something bothering you?" asked Peach gently, balancing her pink parasol over her shoulder. Mario nodded. "Please don't be worried for Luigi. His goodness will shrine through for all the realm to see. They will accept that all of his wicked actions as that masked scoundrel were a result of brainwashing by the tragic count." Mario felt a little better at the Princess's reassurance, and exhaled his worry.

Bowser sat in his awesome bathtub, an aboveground, polished, but still rugged pool with boiling water jets massaging his scaly tail.

"A little more behind the horns, minions!" the enormous evil king laughed roaringly.

"Right away, Your Terribleness!" A group of Shy Guys with a high nasal noise of exertion dumped scalding-hot water onto the back of Bowser's head.

"Oh yeah, that hits the spot!"

"Lord Bowser!" announced Koopatrol, looking utterly humorless as he marched royal bathroom. "Correspondence from the Mushroom Kingdom!"

"And?!" growled the king, driving his clawed hands against the stone ledge of the bathtub. "You expect ME to read it while I'm getting a spa treatment?!"

Koopatrol bowed stiffly in his armor and handed the letter off to Magikoopa, who could read Shroomish.

"You are cordially invited to the trial of Luigi to testify as a witness to the incident in question as well as a witness to his character. The trial will take place at noon tomorrow. You may bring two non-elite guards, according to Mushroom Kingdom custom. No Bullet Bills are permitted. Please refrain from attempting to kidnap the Princess at this time, as the incident in question nearly destroyed your kingdom as well and our realms have a mutual interest in closing this affair..only two guards, Your Ragefulness?" asked Magikoopa with concern. "Could it be a trap for you, your Most Evilness?"

"They've got one of their two errand boys in the hot seat, so they've got bigger Cheep-Cheeps to fry," Bowser snorted, smoke plumes pushing out of his nostrils. His rage spiked and he spouted a sudden fireball, sending the Shy Guys bathing him scurrying away. "It's OUTRAGEOUS! The GREEN guy, Luigi, who puts the L in LOSER, a bigger, badder villain than ME, King Bowser?!" Bowser jumped out of the bathtub, a wave of boiling water spilling out the sides and leaving a hiss of steam and scrambling minions trying not to incur burns. "THAT'S IT! I'm going to testify and prove Green wouldn't hurt a stupid petal on the stupid flower on a Wiggler's head!" Bowser stormed out of his castle, his giant clawed feet threatening to trample any minion who wasn't alert enough or fast get out of the way.

As the dust on the stone floor settled, a Goomba came running, bumping into a group of them that was just regathering after Lord Bowser's energetic stampede.

"Hey, Grover, bud! Some girl wants you."

"Oh, she a looker?"

"Beats me. I'm just relaying her message from Gregory on the Castle bridge who relayed it from George outside of Rogueport, who relayed it from Ginny in Goomba Village, who relayed it from..."

"Yeah, I get it already! What's she want from me?"

"She wants you to testify as a witness at Green Mario's trial."

"She's out of her mind! And besides, I'm on throne-room scrubbing duty all this week!" Grover grumbled.

"Yeah, right? It's not like you got anything to say that everyone doesn't already know. I mean, 'cause you were brainwashed with the rest of us minions."

Grover got quiet. Gary's tiny fangs showed as his mouth sank into a scared frown. "Hey Grover, what's the matter, pal? That's what happened, right? Right?" Grover had his rounded back turned towards him.

"...Will this girl actually reimburse me for travel expenses? The Mushroom Kingdom isn't exactly a jump away."

"Gr-Grover? Tell me you didn't join that caped freak willingly?" Gary, overwrought, bumped into Grover's back repeatedly.. Grover spun around to answer his friend.

"...What was I supposed to do, Gary?! Everyone was brainwashed, I was the last Goomba standing. If I swore loyalty to the Count, then I'd at least keep my free will. Though after all of that, everything I saw and heard at that castle, I kind of wish I hadn't. But in my heart I was always loyal to our king."

"So you were just..pretending to be loyal to the Count?" Gary asked, his squeaky gruff voice filled with relief as he rocked up and down on his round shoes.

"Yep."

"You're going to tell everything you told me to the 'shroom people?"

"Not everything..." answered Grover. "Though the chances aren't likely, I don't really don't want it to get back to Lord Bowser that I was even pretending to turn on him."

"Aren't likely? That'll be hard, 'cause he's going to be there. He'll know you were the only one not brainwashed: it's obvious that's the only reason you're being roped into being a witness."

"He?"

"Lord Bowser. He's testifying too. He and the mushroom princess and Mario."

Grover shot up a whole two feet in the air and landed on his side with a plonk.

"What, why!"

"I don't know why the mushroom princess and Mario are, but Lord Bowser is to prove that Green Guy is innocent so he stops stealing his Vileness's bad press. It's weird, he seems so self-conscious nowadays about his villain image. I even overheard him admit to Kamek that he teamed up with the mustaches and that princess to save all worlds, even when green mustache was trying to destroy all worlds..Imagine, our king being...heroic? It must mess with him. I know I still can't believe it."

"Me neither, Gary. I saw him while I was blending in with the brainwashed minions at the Bitlands. He's...really soft under that spiked shell if he thinks none of his minions are lookimg-but don't ever tell amyone I said that!" Grover picked up a sponge and started walking to the flooded throne room.

"So you still going? Your mystery girl DID send some coins... Gary plonked down a sack of coins labelled For Gary's friend, in the floor in front of Grover.

"25 coins! This is enough for two trips plus extra!" exclaimed Grover with excitement. "And what's here-hey, a note! 'Not much sorry but really need your help please, more for you when u get here ~Luigi's lawyer'

"You're really going through with it? You're brave, Grover, bud, I don't love money that much," remarked Gary shaking his head-body with consternation.

"Well I do!" Grover replied to Gary, and he picked up the sack of coins without arms and whizzed out of the castle.

Also, thought Gary. It's time everyone knew the full story...


	2. Trainwreck Trial

The Chancellor of the Mushroom Kingdom in his formal green-and-yellow robes was seated gravely behind his bench. His black eyes had huge dark circles under them, none too pleased to have to pull himself out of retirement to try a case. However, bound by duty to the kingdom, to the Princess, and to morality and decency. The Chancellor released a sigh filled with dread as he surveyed the attendees and beheld the Princess, sitting amongst commoners in the witness chairs, protected by two Toads and Toadsworth sitting next to her. Toadsworth had urged the Princess not to come to the trial, to stay within the castle walls, safe from any miscreant Toads, and far away from...

The Chancellor paled at the sight of the Koopa King himself occupying five chairs, stealing affectionate, horrid glances at the fair Princess. He himself wrote the invitation to Bowser, but he had decided not to dwell too much on the actual reality of the awful Bowser sitting in this courtroom in their Mushroom Kingdom. Bowser had declined the use of guards, and had come alone. That was no guarantee that he wouldn't try to disrupt the proceedings, but if there was any consolation to this distasteful situation, Mario was here, firmly wedged between their Princess and the Koopa King. It really mattered not to the Chancellor that Bowser had been one of the four heroes that saved all worlds, including the Mushroom Kingdom. Bowser was Bowser, after all.

But if a villain could never rise to gain the full esteem of a hero, a former hero..could certainly descend to the full status of a villain.

The hundreds of Toads started to murmur and tremble all at once as Luigi was brought in by an enormous Toad who was ten or eleven Toads high. This Toad was brave to the point of absurdity and thus tasked with tying up the prisoner. It was an elaborate knot that constricted his torso and kept his arms pulled uncomfortably behind him. A second knot at his wrists followed the rope into the giant Toad's hand that was closed firmly on the rope that functioned as a leash.

After meeting the looks of fear and reproach on the first aisle of Toads, Luigi kept his eyes, which were a kind of cerulean blue, down, scuttling across the floor. He started to go too fast and the rope went taut and he stumbled as the momentum tugged him back. He caught sight of another aisle of Toads and some were staring worryingly at his free legs, and a small kid Toad shrank down for fear of getting crushed. Mortified, Luigi returned his focus to the floor but raised his head again when he heard familiar crying.

"Luigi, Luigi!" screeched Toad in his sandpaper voice, his eyes flowing with tears. He tried saying something but his words faltered, and since the giant Toad guard kept moving, now in front of the prisomer, Luigi only managed to cast down a fleeting glance so mixed with fear, confusion, and jitteriness that he wasn't sure if it communicated anything at all and by the time Toad reacted, Luigi was halfway across the courtroom, quickening his pace to avoid getting yanked forward backwards.

As he neared the front aisle where Mario, the Princess and Toadsworth, and Bowser were, he grew brighter, less defeated. He was going to turn to try and talk to them when the chestnut with the hard hat with the built-in flashlight came running out with her weird circling sideways walk, which probably wasn't any weirder than his scuttle. She stood on a desk and Luigi also sat on the desk.

"The defendant shall stand in the defendant's box," declared the Chancellor.

"You've got this!" whispered Goombella to Luigi as he hopped off the desk. "We've been preparing all night!"

Luigi stood, still tied-up in an uncomfortable way that bowed his head and shoulders forward, in the defendant's box, facing the Chancellor, and he looked over his shoulder out at the sea of horrified Toads. He had a fresh pair of green overalls and the slightly curly brown hair on his head was fragrant from soap. The guards had allowed him to look his best for the trial. He gazed wide-eyed up at the Chancellor.

"Today we arrive at the answer to a troubling question. Who is Luigi? Luigi, you are charged with theft, attempted murder, attempted regicide of our dear Princess, and attempted destruction of the Mushroom Kingdom. You will be found guilty of all of these crimes today and sentenced to the dungeon for the rest of your days...unless the defense mounts sufficient evidence to demonstrate that you were under the dread Count Bleck's mind control which incapacitated any independent will. The proceedings shall be as follows: I through the power of my Office as Chancellor of the Mushroom Kingdom, shall question the defendant as to the events that the defense has submitted in writing prior to these proceedings. The defense will then state its case. The defense will then call a witness or witnesses to the events, I, through the power of my office as Chancellor of the Mushroom Kingdom, will cross-examine the witness to the events. Then follows the witnesses of character, who may also be witnesses to the events. At this time anyone may take the stand and testify to the witness's character. We shall conclude with the verdict. Luigi, is it true that you jumped onto the Chaos Heart?"

The Toads in attendance gasped.

"Y-yeah..." Luigi admitted with embarassment. "I thought it was the right thing to do at the time, but now it was kind of stupid."

"Did you sustain any injury from jumping on the Chaos Heart?"

"No, I was feeling fine.."

"What was your first thought when you regained consciousness in the dread Count Bleck's castle?"

"Aside from my aching head? To help the Goombas get out of that scary castle! Sure, they're baddies, but they were helpless! I had to do something..."

"And you remember nothing after the dread Count Bleck's assistant Nastasia lifted her glasses to look into your eyes?"

"Th-that's right, I don't remember anything."

"When and where did you regain consciousness?"

"I don't know when...but it was in the Underwhere."

"How did you get out of this Underwhere?"

"Mario found me. We found a way out together. We found Bowser too. The D-Men grabbed him and..."

Bowser growled.

"Don't you dare say anything, Green! I'll come over there and lay down my own verdict on you! The sentence: crispy plumber!"

"I ask that there will be no threats in this courtroom."

Bowser snorted. "Fine, fine, just livening things up here, I'm falling asleep liistening to you drone on and on!"

Mario wanted to glare at Bowser or give him a little nudge, but his mostly-enemy-sometimes-ally had been doing good so far. Also Mario figured if Bowser didn't interrupt the trial once in a while that Bowser would lose it..maybe he, despite his vast amounts of patience, would too.

The Chancellor continued.

"There were no recollections of your previous actions from the time you were allegedly brainwashed?"

"Nuh-uh."

"The record, entered by the defense prior to these proceedings states that while you were allegedly brainwashed, you became a thief and servant of the dread Count who went by the name of Mr. L. Do you deny this?"

"M-me? Mr. L?" whimpered Luigi.

"Do you deny this?"

"N-no...but I don't remem-"

"Mr. L mysteriously disappeared after Mario defeated him the second time."

"With MY HELP!" roared Bowser. A sea of mushroom caps shrank in their seats.

"He reappeared however, before the foul Dimentio merged you with the Chaos Heart and then himself and created Super Dimentio, the hideous and demented monster bent on destroying all worlds. This time you were not masked, and while unmasked, you introduced yourself as Mr. L. Do you deny this?"

"No..but-"

"Are you still Mr. L, Luigi?"

"I..I'm Luigi..." Luigi couldn't pull on the sides of his cap since he was still tied up, but he slowly crouched to the ground, nearly-motionless.

"Chancellor, please stop, your questions are tormenting him!" entreated Peach.

"Yeah, I call, like, objection! Prosecution isn't asking about the defendant's memory of events, but his character!"

"Very well, I withdraw the question..And that concludes the questioning as to the events. The defense will now state its case."

"Chancellor guy-" Another murmur among the Toads. A snicker here and there. Goombella flushed red. "As you'll totally learn from the witness we'll be calling-"

"Hmm..it seems your witness has not arrived yet."

Uahh! He noticed the empty seat! hought Goombella.

"By the power given to me by my office of Chancellor, I am changing the order of the proceedings. It shall be easier if after the defense states its case, the character witnesses shall proceed first, and finally then the witnesses to the events."

"Aww, now my notes' order is totally ruined!" Goombella complained, reshuffling her notes. "Oooook, then...As you'll totally learn from character witnesses, Luigi's an incompetent doofus who'd tie his shoes together easier than he'd tie his shoelaces. There's no way he'd be able to become Mr..L WITHOUT getting brainwashed!"

Luigi looked hurt, but the Toads in attendance were starting to agree. Toad screeched,

"Yeah, Luigi! Luigi! Honest, kind, even when you're in a bind! Hey Luigi, you like my cheer? I just came up with it now!"

Luigi's mouth dropped open, stunned, then he smiled, his kind-of strong eyebrows slanting towarrs the direction of his ears in a happy-sad expression. The Chancellor cleared his throat.

"If you are finished, the character witnesses shall line up in an orderly, single-"

It was then Goombella's face fell. Mario, Peach, Bowser were making their way to the witness stand. But so were Torque. And Blooey.

"Oh. No."


	3. Revelations and Resolutions

Bowser was about to open his giant fanged mouth to speak at the witness stand, but the Chancellor spoke first, leaving Bowser with his jaws hanging open in an unkingly way.

"Wait! Before the witnesses give their testimony, I shall use my power as Chancellor to further question the defendant as to his mental state."

"Gragh! I could've used some notice!" Bowser complained at being interrupted. He had to restrain himself from burning the green polka dotted mushroom cap to a crispy mushroom cap.

"Luigi, as we all know, Mario and you were summoned to rescue our beloved Princess by one of our citizens. How did you feel about this task?"

Luigi looked over at Mario, who had actually fallen asleep because of the Chancellor's lengthy examination.

"Bro, wake up!" Luigi pleaded in Italian in a whisper. Mario was snoring a little. There went his moral support which he really needed about now. Luigi was dazed by this whole ordeal but even so, he had started to catch onto the Chancellor's intent. What if his brother had somehow zoned out when they went out to meet Toad and couldn't back up his story? Then what?

"Answer my question, Luigi." the Chancellor sternly ordered the defendant who uncouthly had his back turned to him. Luigi with his characteristic awkwardness and poor balance circled back around and took in a shallow breath.

"On the outside, I was pretty calm-this had happened a lot before, by now it was both routine and our duty." But despite being caught off-guard, Luigi sounded mildly confident.

"And on the inside?"

"I felt stressed out that the Princess was kidnapped again," Luigi's confidence wilted a little.

"Because of your concern for her well-being, or fear for your own safety, or exasperation at having to once again save our fair Princess?" Luigi's confidence wilted a lot. All of the Toads' eyes were on fixed on him.

"Concern for her well-being..and fear..we were going to Bowser's castle, and you know what it's like in there, lava pits, spikes, other dangerous stuff. I mean-" he sighed, getting out some of his jitters. "I guess part of me was excited, 'cause before we left Mario's place I was just..."

"Just what?"

"..itching for something exciting to happen," Luigi admitted. The Princess put her delicately-gloved hand to her lips in surprise.

"Hm..a little cavalier, don't you think?"

The Toads started murmuring.

"I-is that wrong?" stammered Luigi. The Toads looked up at their Princess, waiting to see if she would give a look of reproach. Suddenly the floor shook as the giant ox-turtle hopped lightly up and landed just as lightly. The Toads screamed and flailed, Goombella fell over on her side and ran on the air. Mario woke up, his snore shortening into a snort. He scratched his belly with his gloved hand.

"BWAA HA! Face it, plunger-breath! Without me around, you Mario Bros.' lives would be more boring than this snorefest of a Chancellor!" roared Bowser triumphantly in his fearsome voice. "What's wrong with Green Guy wanting some excitement! But..i didn't kidnap her yet, I was planning to kidnap her. Along with my entire army! The mustaches just got to my castle too early!"

"It is not yet your turn to speak, Bowser!" admonished the Chancellor.

Goombella used Bowser's interruption to jump over to Luigi.

"Hey, can you keep your answers short and like, simple? The more complicated they get the bigger an opening the Chancellor has to catch you in a lie!" she whispered sharply. "And you DO see who's in the witness line, right?"

"Blooey and Torque, two of my partners on my quest to save Princess Eclair!" Luigi answered brightly. "Hey Blooey, Torque!" Luigi greeted, stomping one leg than the other, happy to see someone else he knew and who could vouch for him.

"You mean, you didn't notice-" Goombella was astonished.

"Counsel, what are you doing?! Return to your place!" ordered the Chancellor, sounding progressively short on patience.

"Oh, ok. I've done all I can for the guy!" Goombella's enormous eyebrows were angry and exasperated at Mario's brother's obliviousness.

"We'll leave it at that. The record submitted by the Parakoopa emissary of Bowser Castle was that the dread Count Bleck kidnapped the Princess. Were you still feeling cavalier?"

"Objection, Chancellor! What does it like, matter if Luigi was feeling cavalier? As long as he was concerned, right? He doesn't have to take it deadly serious-it's not like he's a, like, royal retainer!"

The Princess regally nodded. Mario took off his cap and itched his curly brown hair.

"You have a point..objection sustained. What were your feelings when, according to the record submitted by the Parakoopa emissary, the dread Count Bleck announced-"

"HEY! The Koopa KING, here! I can just tell you myself!" Bowser pointed to his huge tough chest with his claws. "Count Bleck said he was gonna kidnap Peach to fulfill the prophecy to destroy all worlds, and everyone in the castle was shocked, 'cause before it happened, it was just crazy-talk. But the plumber brothers had those dumb sad looks, so yeah, Luigi thought it was a bad thing."

This time the Chancellor stood up at the bench and raised his voice of authority. " Since you continually interrupt the proceedings, I could very well strike the proceedings from the record..." Bowser huffed with a hot, dry breath. Everyone else in the courtroom gasped. "But I won't. Though you allege you are not Mr. L, surely you have thoughts about him. Why do you think he disappeared after being defeated by our beloved Princess, Mario, and Bowser?"

"Maybe he got s-scared of Count Bleck? He's a terrible guy...I mean, before he decided to help us beat Dimentio and restore the Pure Hearts," Luigi offered an explanation.

"What were your thoughts upon awakening in that dimension of the..no-longer-living?"

Goombella noticed that the Chancellor had skipped asking Luigi about his feelings on waking up at Bleck's Castle-but then again, he had asked a similar question before, what did he do after waking up at Bleck's Castle. At least the Chancellor wasn't being repetitive. She did notice..he kept changing the rules of the trial. Like he WANTED to reach a guilty verdict.

"Oh, the Underwhere, you mean! At first I thought I was dead, and Mario, too..Still I was raring to go! Ater Mario found me.," Luigi added quickly. Mario had fallen asleep again, "Nighty-night, Bro!" Luigi told Mario in Italian. He didn't seem to be worried about Mario being able to back his story this time.

"You wanted to seek the Pure Hearts to stop the worlds from being destroyed?"

"Yeah! But one world had gotten destroyed already, the Sammer Kingdom.." Luigi answered a little mutedly.

"And how did you find that out?"

"My brother told me."

"Were you disturbed when you thought you had died?"

Luigi froze. Goombella noticed it was a different kind of fear.

"...I really wasn't, you know?" Luigi knew that answer was unsettling to the Toad attendees. Goombella herself was kind of thrown. Goombella, when journeying with Mario, wondered if he didn't fear death, 'cause going up Creepy Steeple, battling the Shadow Queen who had posessed Peach and also almost destroyed the world, stuff like that was practically a death wish and the red brother was stoic through it all. But maybe it was the green brother who didn't fear death...In any case it was shocking and the Toads' murmurs raised to prolonged chatter.

"Luigi, don't give uuuup!" wailed flailing Toad. Luigi looked smilingly over his shoulder. The other Toads glared at Toad, angry and dismayed at his misplaced sympathies.

"Now, according to the record submitted by the defense prior to this proceeding, you were allegedly brainwashed twice, both at the castle of the dread Count Bleck. What were your feelings before you were brainwashed, allegedly the second time?"

"I was terrified! I thought Dimentio was going to kill me. He formed a magical box around him and me and hit us both with magical explosions. It turned out I was only knocked unconscious. I rejoined the Princess and Bowser who also had survived and we went to find my brother. I felt fine, nothing weird at all!" Luigi answered in his conversational, chatter-filled way, which was still nervous and stuttery. He had spent the past several days and nights in jail, fending off a nervous breakdown, and knew he'd spend many more if the Chancellor didn't find his answers satifactory.

"And after our beloved Princess, Mario, and Bowser defeated Super Dimentio?"

Luigi got quiet. "I didn't know what had happened. But now I do..."

"How do you know?"

"I just found it out, before the trial... -Goomb...Goombi...Goom-." Luigi leaned forward on his soles and pointed with his head, since his arms were tied, at the chestnut in the hard hat.

"Goombella!" the chestnut rolled her dark eyes.

"So.." The Chancellor paused in analytic thought. "..not for one moment did it occur to you to ask our beloved Princess, Mario, or Bowser what had transpired while you were unconscious?"

The courtroom was now noisy with chattering Toads. Even Toad fell silent. Peach and Mario briefly exchanged glances.

"I-didn't."

"I now call upon the first witness, Mar-" Mario jumped off his seat.

"ME!" Bowser practically bowled over Mario, who with an "OOF!" got slammed and whirled around by the impact.

"Mario!" both exclaimed Peach and Luigi. Mario pulled himself up and waved, a little scratched up but otherwise unharmed. Peach and Luigi seemed relieved. Still, all three tuned their ears in on what Bowser had to say.

"So the Green Guy's a total wimp. Not just a wimp, but a weakling. Not just a weakling, but weaksauce! Green can't throw shade for beans-hey look at that, I rhymed! He's a total lightweight and makes Mario's stomp feel like getting body-slammed by Midbus!"

Rather than getting embarassed, Luigi nodded rapidly at Bowser's barrage of disses. Goombella too, was feeling less on-edge and instead of rocking vertically on her shoes in anxiousness she swayed from side-to-side idly, nonwithstanding Blooey and Torque who were trying to sidle around Peach's poofy dress to get to the witness stand, but was blocked by her parasol, the gust of which blew them backwards a few feet, enough for them to get dizzy and move in the completely wrong direction.

"What about his character?"

" ..?"

"Would he ever willingly betray those he loves?"

Bowser's red irises lit up with comprehension.

"Betray?! HaH! He's loyal to a fault to Peach and Red Guy. 'He follows Red Guy around even into a dangerous castle with an incredibly good-looking Koopa King! When that Count Bleck guy beat Mario's butt with dark energy, Green Guy freaked out. If I had a brother, and he got his butt handed to him by another baddie, I would laugh! But Wimpy here, looks like he was 'gonna cry! Pathetic!" Bowser mocked in hus growling deep beast voice.

Toad cheered. while some of the other Toads wiped their eyes. Goombella was surprised..she didn't expect Bowser to be THIS helpful. She glanced over to Mario to see his reaction. He was smiling-or was that just his mustache? It was hard to tell because his mustache curled upwards-and Luigi smiled too. As much of a blubbering mess as Luigi was during this whole trial, the Mario Bros.' brotherly bond was unassailable.

But the good feeling didn't last. The Chancellor's gloomy demeanor cast its dark pall over the courtroom once more.

"Why was he going to cry? Because Mario had been hurt, or because Luigi would have no one to protect him?"

This time, Mario stepped in.

"Both," said the red plumber in his high, yet sturdy voice, with an accent similar to Luigi's which resulted in him rolling all of his r's.

"Big Bro!" Luigi tried to raise his arms, but they were still tied, so he gave a short hop of elation. The Toads quieted as soon as Mario spoke. Goombella smirked up at the ceiling, feeling puffed-up that the Chancellor's move had backfired.

"Mario, though you have saved the Mushroom Kingdom many times, I must ask you to refrain from speaking again until I call you."

Mario nodded respectfully. The Chancellor shifted his narrowed gaze to the Koopa King.

"Bowser, did Luigi show that same loyalty while disrupting your horrendous union with our beloved Princess?"

"Oh yeah, he was a real pain in my shell-he jumped on my head and the spinny weird Chaos Heart and was 'gonna rescue Peach. I got surprised, ao I didn't get a chance to fry that plumber for ruining our perfect day!"

The Toads glared en masse at the evil king, and the evil king was just soaking up their glares of hatred, reproach, and disgust at the fact that Bowser and the Princess...Peach looked ill, not wanting to be reminded of that sham wedding, and Mario leaned back on one leg, two fists closing. "Bwaha! Relax, mustache, I'm not going to kidnap her here!" Bowser reassured laughingly, throwing his horned head back. "Even though this trial's pretty much a circus! How can LUIGI be MR. L? Mr. L has STYLE! And can lay a word SMACKDOWN! And he built a giant ROBOT!" Come on, Luigi! Show us your giant robot!" Bowser taunted with a monstrous fanged grin.

"G-giant robot? I'm scared of giant robots!" Luigi answered, quivering at giant robots and quivering at Bowser.

"What do you mean, 'has style'?" inquired the Chancellor.

"I mean, he doesn't dress like he's gonna fix toilets, that's for sure! Kinda fancy, but not overdoing it...It says, 'I'm going to ruin your day and love doing it'. And he did! He called me a..a..." Bowser himself started to quiver, ever-so-slightly.

"A what?"

"Butterball, ok?! Even though I'm not fat! And I've been watching my weight, no high-carbs for me, just pure raw PROTEIN along with the still-hip exercise craze of slide-punching-"

"Bowser, we did not come to hear about your dietary regimen."

"But yeah, this nut, Mr. L, IS FEARLESS! He insults ME to my face, and I tell him that he's "got a big mouth for a henchman. Minions have to learn respect'. But he doesn't listen. Just 'cause he helped wipe out Sammer's Kingdom-and let me tell ya, those guys are ANNOYING! They name themselves after guys in our world too, like Flying Cheep-Cheep, and Dayzee the Merciless, but they're tough, like me, so I like 'em-but yeah, Mr. L, he's acting like the boss instead of just a minion!" the ox-turtle snorted with indignation.

"How did he help wipe out the world?"

"Well grargggh, I dont know. Mimi, one of Bleck's ex minions stalled us while that Void thing did its work. Mr. L showed up after the world got destroyed."

"How did Mr. L react to the end of the world?"

"He was COLD! He was amused that the Pure Heart was intact..but...Bleck! He said a lot of things about Bleck and how Bleck needed the Pure Hearts to destroy the world-"

"Actually, that is not true-" Peach called out, in her earnest voice.

"Objection!" Goombella cried.

"Overruled."

Peach turned towards Bowser, whose pupils had gone small with surprise.

"You do not remember? Mr. L only warned us to "stay out of the count's business" if we wanted to live. He also expressed positive sentiments about the Dark Prognosticus, 'anything the Count doesn't like, poof! Like it never existed.' But those are two of the three times that he mentioned Count Bleck."

"That's-that's what I said, Peach!" Bowser replied, clearly flustered. Goombella bit down with her one sharp tooth. The Toads started to get angry.

"You're lying!"

"You want that maniac Luigi to go free!"

"Liar!"

Bowser replied with a flame burst, casting dangerous red lighting on the walls and floors. The Toads in the front row cowered.

"Of course I want him to go free! I'M your public enemy #1, not him! What am I, turtle soup?!"

"The witness is proven to be unreliable. Bowser, you are dismissed."

"WHAT?!"

"Please leave the courtroom or you will have to be escorted by force."

Bowser looked up, cradling his elbow with his claws, unusually introspective.

"Hm...leave by myself or showdown with Flabby?" Bowser decided and charged at the bravest Toad in the land and they engaged in epic struggle. One half of the attendees shifted in their seats to watch giant Toad attempt to wrangle the Koopa King. The Toad had also dropped the end of Luigi's rope, letting him walk around a little more freely. Stll this was far from ideal. Goombella got out of her box, squished her head against the side in frustration, and walked back in.

"Now, Mario, I call you to summarize your version of the events in question, including Luigi's mental state," the Chancellor ordered, while rubbing his green polka dotted mushroom cap in exasperation.

All eyes turned to Mario, who took the stand, except the ones who were watching Bowser and giant Toad in epic combat. Some even started placing bets and threw food and coins at the impromptu fighters.

"Luigi and me were having breakfast-" Mario raised his voice to be heard over the spontaneous battle that raged in the back of the courtroom. "Luigi was restless and wanted to say hi to Princess Peach at Mushroom Castle. Toad told us that Peach was kidnapped. He wasn't very happy..it isn't his job to save the Mushroom Kingdom. But he was also concerned about the Princess and me when Count Bleck kidnapped her and attacked me, " Mario summarized..Mr. L is nothing like my brother," Mario said plainly. "He also has his own brother, Brobot," this he sounded hurt over ever-so-slightly. He moved a stare to Luigi, but he only looked confused at the mention of 'Brobot'.

Mario didn't speak much, but when he did he was succinct as possible. His hand gestures were spare and meaningful. He was only two Toads high, squat, and was not always clean-he wasn't able to get the mushroom stain completely out, and he wore the same pair of overalls year in and year out, but the Toads had the utmost respect for him and gave his words great weight..

"Did you recognize each other?"

"I did, but he only used nicknames for us."

"Significance?"

"He didn't know our names. He remembered what each of us is known for...the Princess for getting kidnapped, Bowser for getting foiled-and me for jumping." Bowser crashed into the wall, leaving a hige dent. The Toads who were watching roared with applause for giant Toad and showered him with coins. Only Toad and about half of the courtroom were still fixated on the trial, including Blooey and Torque, who were making their way back to the witness stand.

"What about the second encounter with Mr. L."

"Still the same. Nothing like my brother." Mario was adamant.

"Why was Luigi afraid when you found him in the world of the dead?"

Mario stared around and up at him with respect but a stony defiance.

"I'd think you'd be too, Chancellor."

The Toads gasped. They would never think of Mario being audacious. Bowser and Giant Toad even stopped their fight.

"HA, shade from a guy who never throws shade, BuRN-'gaaack!" The Toad put Bowser, who was laughing, in a chokehold and they comtinued to battle, damaging the walls of the courthouse to many of the Toads' cheers.

The Chancellor however, was not distracted.

"When did you part with Luigi?"

"After Dimentio got us to play tag with him. He didn't respect Luigi's mustache-'"

Both Luigi and Goombella shook their heads rapidly, catching the Chancellor's critical frown.

"So, it was because his ego was wounded that he decided to fight Dimentio alone and without Pixls?"

But Mario wasn't rattled. "Part of it. But at first we thought Count Bleck was the one we had to stop. Dimentio confused us, Luigi thought Dimentio woud betray the count."

Goombella raised her gigantic eyebrows, and scanned through her notes for a mention of Pixls. She vagiely knew what Pixls were because Mario had mentioned them offhand sometime after that quest to prevent the destruction of all worlds, but it wasn't part of public record. It's not like Pixls were common knowledge.

"Did Luigi find this fortunate, because he wanted Count Bleck to destroy all worlds?" the Chancellor countered.

"Count Bleck and Dimentio both wanted to, but Bleck wanted them to stay destroyed."

"Which outcome did Luigi want?"

"He wanted to save the worlds, so neither."

"How do you know that Luigi hadn't been brainwashed into serving Bleck but his loyalty didn't show until much later?" the Chancellor pressed, insistent.

"Him being loyal to Bleck acquits him," Mario pointed out. "You need to let him go now," the red plumber urged.

"What if he was outwardly loyal to Bleck, but in truth only loyal to himself, and had disobeyed Bleck when no one was watching?"

"Objection! I'm not seeing this in the record we submitted!" Goombella yelled over Bowser and Giant Toad's untimely wrestling match.

"Then how can you prove it?"

The Chancellor ignored Goombella and went on to his next question.

"...In what order did Luigi mention our beloved Princess and Bowser's sacrifices?"

"Objection! I'm not seeing this in the record we submitted either!" Goombella looked frantically through her notes.

"...He mentioned Bowser first." Mario too, looked somewhat perturbed, partly at Luigi who promptly looked away, but more so at the Chancellor.

Upon hearing Luigi's answer, the Toads except for Toad and Toadsworth started to group into a mob. Luigi, rather than showing fear this time, hung his head in shame and his shoulders drooped and knees bent inwards.

"Traitor!"

"Treason!"

"Spy!"

"Objection! OBJECTION! HEY!" Goombella sped towards the Toads. "No one touch my client until there's a verdict!" Goombella showed her hard head that had bonked many a foe. The Toads backed off, angrily. "Chancellor, Luigi might've mentioned Bowser first just because that's the order they got separated in. And even if Luigi was on Bowser's side, how does it, like make sense to take their frustration out on Luigi if they're not also going to do the same to Bowser!"

"Fine, very well. Sustained." Mario took off his cap from his sweaty brown hair, and he nodded with relief. Luigi jumped in place, still tied up. The Chancellor turned to Peach. "Beloved Princess, please describe for us Luigi. Mario, you may step down, if it pleases you."

Peach took the stand. She raised her eyes roofward, clasping her hands to her body. "Dear Chancellor, Luigi is the kindest, bravest soul I know. He is helpful, humble, honest..."

"Honest my tentacle!" Blooey, who had been lying on wait near the witness stand, finally made a grab for the podium and now insinuated himself in front of Peach. Luigi turned pale. Goombella noticed, her look rife with surprised at Luigi perceiving the danger.

"Oh! My goodness.." Peach was startled by the Blooey's rough Shroomish and mannerisms.

"Yeah, this is Luigi." Blooey started. "So humble he wrote a book about his adventures and so honest he lied about the details! I TOLD you I'd get my vengeance on you someday, Luigi!" snarled the crispified squid. Luigi gulped down his stutters and his slim frame went rigid in the ropes.

"Tell the court what happened, my esteemed sir."

Blooper talked fast, no time was soon enough to tell the court his origin story.

"Luigi couldn't jump 100 feet, so we make a deal he hurls me up there to get this jewel from outta the statue. Except he trips and I get third-degree burns!" The evidence was there on his body, abd the Toads gazed at the crispified Blooper in horror. Torque, who couldn't jump onto the podium, stayed hidden behind it.

"I lent him my kart for the race for the grand prize," the Buzzy Beetle began. "Idiot accelerates backwards and totals the kart! Yeah, he won the race, but not nearly as smoothly he tells it in Super Luigi part 3!" Torque pivoted, looking up at the stoic red plumber. "Oh and Mario! He dissed you in volume 1! 'Older and less talented brother' off on an 'inconsequential errand', my shell!" huffed the Buzzy Beetle. "You still owe me 30,000 coins!" the Buzzy Beetle made it clear in a low voice.

"30,000?" Luigi repeated.

"Yeah, 5,000 plus interest! I already did the math.

"Mamma mia..." Luigi backed up and tripped. Goombella noticed that Luigi had moved out of the defendant's box.

"No further witnesses," the Chancellor decided in a rushed tone. He did not order Luigi to get back into the defendant's box.

"Then we shall flit forwards to.."

"Waaaait!" screamed a booming-voiced Goomba who aggressively bonked open the courtroom doors, letting light flood in as well as the sounds of unabated battle between Bowser and Giant Toad and their respective Mushroom cheerleaders. The brown chestnut landed in the indoor crater that Bowser made from fighting giant Toad, but lucky for him, they had taken their dispute outside. The back two rows of seats were all messed up because that part of the floor was caved in.

"And who are you?" asked the Chancellor with an airy, aristocratic tone. Mario's expression was resolute, hostility growing. Peach regarded him with confusion. He looked back at her and then fixed a hard glare on the Chancellor. Peach looked surprised.

"I'm Gary's friend, Gary was the last Goomba to be brainwashed," Grover introduced himself. He was half a Toad tall and the Mushroom people strained to see him over the witness stand. Goombella's expression brightened. Finally, her witness was here! "But I wasn't brainwashed!" Grover explained. So, you want the dirt on Luigi?" The Toads roared with aggressive approval, except for the ones betting on Bowser or Giant Toad who were all outside.

Luigi, who had been clueless up to this point, closed his tied-up hands into fists behind him, pressing against the rope digging into his upper body, and the muscles in his legs tensed.

Goombella was more mortified than startled by Luigi's sudden menace. This guy was supposed to help acquit Luigi. That's why she asked-begged him to help. But she hadn't considered that maybe Gary's friend's nformation was HARMFUL to their case...

"Traitor!" yelled Luigi. He trilled the last r, unintentionally sounding more aggressive. Goombella didn't realize that Luigi had dirt on Gary's friend. "You betrayed Bowser, and me!" he took one step forward, his stomp echoing in the uninsulated courtroom.

"Look who's talking!" the Goomba got back, tromping on the floor right in front of Luigi. "You ditched your princess to help us minions!" Gary's friend marched right up to the green plumber, who shufled backwards and tripped on the ledge, landing on his butt." The Goomba climbed up onto his chest, standing on it. "Just cause we stroked that ego of yours, 'Great Luigi!'" the Goomba said mockingly, leaning into the green plumber's hairy face. "Face it, you were becoming a bad guy even before you got 'brainwashed'."

"N-n-n-no..." Luigi tried pulling himself away from the chestnut. The remaining Toads were in a frenzy.

"Come on, I overheard your super-secret minion meetings with Boss Bleck and Nasty." Goomba's stare up close wasn't pleasant. It didn't let up. Didn't help that Goombas didn't blink all that often. "Just like me, you swore loyalty on the outside. But though I was still loyal to King Bowser," he slowed down to the drive the accusation home. "You weren't loyal to anyone but yourself! All the other minions were Bleck this, Bleck that, you were all about yourself and building and repairing 'metal bro'", but it wasn't for Bleck, that's for sure!" Goomba still stayed uncomfortably close, pressing his chestnut cheek against Luigi's human one. Luigi could only murmur a scared denial.

"What horrifying testimony about the true mindset of this despicable man, good sir," smiled the Chancellor. Goombella glimpsed that smile and raised her enormous eyebrows. There was something..not right... Mario was tense, wholly fixated on the Chancellor.

"And what of Mr. L's mysterious disappearance? Did Mr. L flee because he had second thoughts about serving Bleck?" questioned the Chancellor. "Was he moved by the turmoil of his conscience?"

The Goomba shook his head, still standing on Luigi's chest but pulled away from his cheek, giving the guy slightly more space. Slightly.

"I think it was 'cause he went against orders. He and Mimi attacked King Bowser and the others when Nasty told them not to."

"Why did he attack them? Was it out of devotion for Bleck?" the Chancellor asked lightly.

"Pfft, it was more like, he hated his former friends and wanted to flatten 'em!"

"What transpired after the failed attempt to destroy his former friends?"

"Then Dimentio came back to the castle, but Mr. L didn't. The higher minions knew about Mr. L's little stunt, but just knew he disappeared. But you know what I think?" Goomba marched in a stationary circle to address both the Chancellor and the angry Toads.

"Diimentio probably tried to off Mr. L."

"...So the reason Luigi fought Dimentio alone and without Pixls was, not out of pride from being insulted when meeting for the first time?"

The Goomba nodded his roundish body.

"I'd say it was 'cause Luigi got double-crossed. He trusted the wrong guy and nearly got himself killed. Luigi was out for revenge," Gary's friend circled back around on the plumber's chest, locking accusing eyes with Luigi's terrified ones.

"Well, we have gathered all the evidence," the smiling Chancellor announced in a serene tone. "People of the Mushroom Kingdom, do any of you object to a verdict of...guilty-"

The Toads cheered with thirsty rage.

"I do, I do!" Toad frantically shrieked to make himself heard over the other mushrooms.

"...except Toad, who behaves as a personal friend of the defendant. No?" Peach beheld the people of her kingdom, whose hearts were filled with fury. She searched for the words to calm their anger, but the Chancellor pronounced, "Then I find the defendant Luigi guilty. The sentence is.. death!"

"Wait a minute!" protested Mario as the Toads mobbed his brother.

"Big Bro! Mariooo!" Luigi cried for help as he was hoisted up and hauled out the door by the implacable Toads. Blooey, Torque, and Gary's friend followed them out. Goombella, alarmed, chased after them.

"Please, people of the Mushroom Kingdom, spare this man!" entreated Peach.

"It's no use, Princess Peach.." Toadsworth tried to convince his monarch. "The people of the Mushroom Kingdom will not wait for the executioner. They will take it upon themselves."

"Luigi!" Mario jumped after him, navigating the overturned seats and large crater in the floor but then turned on his sole before he reached Peach, Toadsworth, and the open door and teeth clenched with frustration, rran back to the front of the courtroom. "You said it was life in prison," Mario's voice showed just the slightest bit of hurt.

The Chancellor laughed.

"Ah ha ha ha...I mispoke."

Mario's sapphire-colored eyes lit up. He had suspected, but wasn't exactly sure who it was..until now.

"You did now!" Mario yelled as he ran with steel resolve to the Chancellor's bench. The red plumber jumped from the floor and landed on the Chancellor's head, knocking out the Chancellor who flopped over on the bench. The three beheld a familiar figure in an elaborate purple costume except he was bluish and transparent. His eyes glowed with eerie luminesence through his mask.

"Dimentio! How?" Peach exclaimed.

"Do you ever wonder what happen to Shaydes that are not permitted to enter the Underwhere? They must wander the dimensions in these imperfect, immaterial forms, like a cool breeze in the void of space." He paused theatrically and not without a sliver of contemplation. "However, this form isn't altogether dreadful...now that I am in such an insubstantial form, I can take control of people's bodies with my power, rather than merely influence their minds through persuasion and charm. It is most preferable to using a Floro Sprout: before you three destroyed my beautiful Super Dimentio form I had no way of controling minds without the use of the Floro Sprout, and sadly, no way of controlling people's bodies at all. 'Ah, Dimentio,' you might wonder, 'how then could you take control of Super Dimemtio'? Super Dimentio was not a mere body but an entity, made of the Chaos Heart merged with myself and Luigi, who, I'm afraid, was woefully inadequate against you three."

Luigi cried outside, but not because he was being insulted. Mario wasn't in any mood to listen to the jester's grand and lengthy speech, but he got some of what Dimentio was saying, particularly the limits of Dimentio's power-that he couldn't brainwash without using the Floro Sprout, which he had only planted on Luigi after Luigi sacrificed himself so Mario could take on Count Bleck. Which meant that Dimentio had no control over Mr. L prior. And that Dimentio could only posesss bodies after Dimentio got turned into a ghost, so that meant he never controlled Mr. L's body. Super Dimentio didn't count, because it wasn't a body. But Mario remembered it was physical, like a body. He knew that bizarre monster was partly Luigi, partly the Chaos Heart, but Luigi's body, and then Dimentio's body, was inside it because he saw Luigi pop out of the monster when it was defeated. Mario figured the Chaos Heart made Luigi's already pretty strong mind powerful enough to make his darkest emotions physical, a giant vessel for himself to inhabit or something. But with the Floro Sprout on Luigi, Dimentio's evil will overcame Luigi's and easily took control of Luigi's vessel. Or was it actually Luigi's vessel? Tippi did say Super Dimentio was part Luigi...so maybe Luigi became that entity.

But what he could gather from that Dimentio's tidbit wasn't as important, or distirbing, as Dimemtio's revelation that he couldn't possess bodies or control minds.

Even so, Mario stifled his growing apprehension, and he held his fists to his sides one foot forward and the other back, launched forward and leaning back, caught between helping his brother and dealing with Dimentio.

"In a way I have to thank you, because I am more powerful than ever. But it would please me more to just end you," smiled the ghostly jester. "Luigi was fortunate enough to be ejected from my beautiful form before it was destroyed. This time his he will not flit away from his end."

"So this trial was a sham trial?" asked Peach, her soft eyebrows knitting with hostility. "It was just a plan to turn the rage of the people of my kingdom against Luigi?"

The malevolent spirit trembled with laughter.

"Ah ha ha ha...no, my dear. The Chancellor was in full control of his body for most of the trial. I only started offering some spiritual 'guidance' when-"

"When the questions got personal," Mario interjected. "The chancellor wouldn'tve known what wasn't already there in the defense's record. Only you, Dimentio, would've known things where it was just me and Luigi and you in the room."

"Precisely," Dimentio answered with the smoothness of charmeuse.

"I demand you return the Chancellor's control over his body."

"It is already done..! It pains me to say it, but I have the feeling that the Chancellor was indeed swayed by your deeply inadequate arguments. But before I fly off into the ether, I ask you which the Chancellor did at the beginning of this charming little play...who is Luigi? Well then...arrivederci!"

With that, the ghostly aristocratic clown dissappeared.

"He'll be back...but for now-" Mario started to run out of the doors to help his brother.

"Wait, Mario! The Chancellor, we must make sure that he is unharmed!" Peach headed fairly swiftly to the bench. Toadsworth bustled after her and Mario pulled himself away from Luigi's desperate pleas.

"..oh...ugh. Now where was I..character witnesses..and then I lost consciousness...were there any other witnesses after Mario?"

"Oh yes," said Toadsworth. "I transcribed the entitre proceeding up to where it was interrupted by that dreadful clown." He handed the hand-written record to the Chancellor. "Beware, Mario says that some of the questions it was not you who asked them, but that dreadful clown ghost who did. So they might not be important to your decision." The Chancellor took the paper grimly and read.

"Ah..damaging testimony by the witnesses Blooey, Torque, and Gary's friend, the Goomba. Belligerence on the part of the defendant when the Goomba testified.." Mario was sweating and on edge. He was stepping on the same spot on the floor. Outside Luigi's wailing was terrible and hammered in his ears. Peach waited with concern. Her heart ached out of sadness that Luigi was in pain, but hearing the verdict was of the utmost importance as well.

"Now I have enough to render a verdict..." The Chancellor cleared his throat, announcing to the three people left in the courtroom. "Though the defendant lies some of the time regarding his expertise and competency...and even lied about his loyalties, abandoning his assumed duty to protect our beloved Princess in order to help two of Bowser's minions, and even.. ah, yes, this was a question I did not ask, but I find it important-in that Luigi mentioned Bowser before our beloved Princess. I did not ask about his disloyalty to Bleck and loyalty to himself...nor his reason for fighting our beloved Princess, Mario, and Bowser, nor his reason for fighting Dimentio, which the Goomba gave in his testimony..those questions must have been the doing of the terrible ghost who took control of my body. In all honesty, these questions the ghost posed do bolster the case against the defendant, showing him to be malicious and untrustworthy. Even so..." he took.a deep breath and gave a perturbed exhale. Both Mario and Peach waited, Mario on the edge of his patience. "As Luigi, he did nothing to knowingly, actively aid the dread Count Bleck or Dimentio., or carry out his own dastardly ends. The vast discrepancy between the actions, motivations, comportment, and technical skill between Luigi as himself and as Mr. L proves that Luigi does not remember his time as the criminal and fiend Mr. L..." Peach put her hands to her lips, her hope rising in her heart. "-and must be freed."

Peach let out a giggling laugh out of joy into her hands, and held Mario's hands in celebration. Mario allowed himself a second of celebrating the verdict before he dashed out the doors. A big group of the Toads were giving Luigi a furious beating with the full savagery of their Toad fists, and the other group kept on calling for a formal execution. Toad was crying off to the side, dropping big tears on the ground. Goombella was trying to squeeze herself past the wall of Toads, but they blocked her at every point.

It wasn't until Peach swept through the doors that some of the Toads calmed down.

"Please, people of the Mushroom Kingdom! Stop, Luigi is innocent! The Chancellor has arrived at a verdict of not guilty!"

"Yipeeee!" screeched Toad. Mario arrived soon after, jumping into the fray of Toads without stomping on their mushroom caps and with a lot of effort, pulled the ropes off of Luigi, which had been loosened by being jostled by the mob of Toads. In the presence of Mario, the Toads stepped back.

"Big Bro...!" Luigi managed in a wavering voice. He was scratched, bruised, and his overalls were torn in some places. "You did it! You freed the Chancellor! And me..."

"When did you know it wasn't the Chancellor?" asked Mario, raising his eyebrows. His brother had been yanked outside before the impostor had revealed himself.

"When his interrogation started contradicting itself, I knew something was up, that it had to someone pretending to be the Chancellor..but, everything's ok now, Big Bro?"

"Everything's ok, Lil' Bro."

Mario didn't tell Luigi about who had posessed the Chancellor. He figured Luigi could do without that information, for now.

"What do you_MEAN_you weren't brainwashed?!" Bowser scorched a good deal of the pretty stone courtyard in front of the courthouse, Grover trying to dodge his raging king's fire blasts.

"Forgive me, Lord Bowser!"

"Oh, that's not cutting it! NOT_AT_ALL! You're going to beg for forgivness..every STEP-" Bowser advanced forward, slamming his weight down with every menacing tread of his clawed feet. "-of the way-'-" he glared with his burning red eyes down at the lowly, crushable chestnut. "-Back to my castle!" Grover skidded away, but wasn't scared out of his mind enough to not throw Goombella a sidelong glance.

"Hey, girl, where's the rest?" he asked, rough and expectant.

"Well-" Goombella answered with barely-concealed contempt-"you helped the prosecution's case, so-" she threw him ten coins, which he glowered at, but kept as he tried to keep out of crisping range of his king's rageful flame as they both headed towards Castle Bowser.

"Oh dear, look at this mess," Toadsworth said with dismay, observing the scorched courtyard, the busted doors, Giant Toad passed out next to half-eaten cake and a pile of coins, the last few gambling stragglers picking up and going home. The Chancellor sighed with weariness.

"If only we had jurisdiction over that spike-shelled nuisance. Come, we must repair the courtyard. No, no, no, you all help. After all you urged him on. And someone eat that cake before it spoils."

"So, that's over with!" Goombella said with that kind of forced cheeriness one has after a long ordeal, starting to put away her notes in her backpack. She saw the tall green plumber bend down, groaning with soreness, and pick up and put away the rest of her notes. Oh hey, you didn't have to do that! You should go pick up some Mushroom Tea in Toad Town."

"I'm ok," Luigi said though he was purple with bruises and also scratches. "Thanks for being my lawyer, Goombella. I was r-really in hot water back there!"

"Huh?" Goombella's dark giant eyes widened. "You finally learned my name!"

"Yeah, it's an easy enough name to remember. Oh, I almost forgot." Luigi dug into his other pocket in his green overalls and pulled out 10 coins, each worth 100.

"1,000 coins?"

"Yeah, sorry it wasn't in advance like you wanted."

"Where'd you get this..WHEN did you get this?"

Luigi gave a thumbs up and limped away after Mario, Peach, and Toadsworth. Mario waved to Goombella as they left, and Goombella waved back with her head, holding the 1,000 coins, confused.

A few nights later, the shorter plumber's big brown low-cut boots fell with purpose on the ragged dark streets. He passed by the hanging place in the square, and relying on his gut he turned eastward. He stopped, hearing some rustling and clinking of something glittery. He took another step forward, and suddenly there was a rapid upwards whoosh of air, the outline of the figure soaring well above the nearest rooftop, and several slow seconds later, boots of similar style, but blending with the stone ground, landed right behind him tense, but then relaxed.

"Oh, it's just you, Big Bro!"

"Luigi, eh-knock eet off," Mario switched out of Italian but avoided going into one of the many Mushroom Kingdom/surrounding area languages, so that every word was slow and deliberate, which sounded strange when contrasted with his high, cheerful voice. He jumped at his younger brother, startling him, and landed in front of him, backing him out of the shadows and into the one light in East Rogueport. There, Mario looked at his brother plainly dressed in black shirt and pants, the green bandana, the reverse L, an outfit he had hoped to never see again. Mario exhaled and shook his head with older-brotherly disappointment, and turned his back, addressing his brother but facing the nearest wall.

""Deefferrent skeelses-eh dan Mr. L's, huh? If you don't-eh rrremember, den how do you steel know eh-how to-eh Superr Jump? Weethout Ultrra Boots? Don't eh-say you could eh-always jump-eh dat high. Your low jump's only-eh 1 and 1/2 meterrrs."

Mr. L beamed with pride but was defensive at the same time, holding the glittery loot close to him as if bracing for a surprise pummeling from his brother that would make him drop his haul, and offended that Mario was keeping his back turned, and he made a noise that could only ne described as a shrill growl. "I know you-eh rrememberr everything. It's eh-because you-eh became Mr. L by-eh choice. All of dose-eh tings you eh-did as Mr. L, were willing." Mr. L's confident calm fractured, and his teeth ground in a snarl as he bent his sore knees. Mario kept his back turned, even as his brother coiled up with dangerous vindictiveness. "I know dat ting's got so-eh bad eh-between us we couldn't talk eet overr-eh." Mr. L was caught off guard that Mario avoided bringing up that Mr. L tried to kill them. Though it was true, Mr. L had been expecting that confrontational tone from his brother but his brother blindsided him instead. "Dat's-eh what-eh Mamma always wanted us-eh to do." Mr..L stopped coiling, his lip dropping slightly and his brown mustache dropping, clearly stung by the zinger.

If Mario was going to turn his back, he was going to do the same-or at least to the side, so he wasn't leaving himself open to physical attack, because with psychological attack, Mario was bombarding him.

"What's therre to talk about-hneh?" Mr. L said in his lower, nasally voice as he brought a leg back and kicked a stray piece of gravel. It landed at Mario's feet. His tone was sharp-edged, as if his words were loaded with venom. After a few minutes of neither of them talking, Mr. L, still facing off to the side, took off his mask. He took his stare away from the lighted ground. His eyes were hurt, resentful. "I was sick of it, Brro. Being left behind, trrying to be a herro like you and just neverr living up to you. I made up my mind..if I couldn't be deh hero, I'd be a bad guy. At least it was someting that was eh-mine and mine alone...so when Nastasia raised herr glasses, it was just an excuse, rreally, to change carreerrs..." Mr. L admitted, but not with remorse.

"You arre better at some tings, Luigi." Mr. L finally turned around to face his brother. Mario reciprocated. He switched to Italian, spouting off rapid-fire and accusatory, gesturing in ways only the two of them understood. "Those 1,000 coins you paid Goombella, where''d they come from?"

"Wherre do you think-eh? Heh," Mr. L dug his boot into the stone ground and rotated his uninjured ankle idly.

"Luigi...did you steal them from the Toads?" Mario crossed his arms in a big brotherly way.

"Nah, I used a trapdoor while I was in jail, headed out of the Mushroom Kingdom, grabbed the coins and snuck right back into my cell before Fat Toad came to drag me to the courthouse." Mario seemed semi-satisfied, bewildered at and upset at his brother for causing trouble even while he was _already in serious trouble _ but relieved that he had at least gone elsewhere to cause trouble. Mr. L leaned heavily to the side on his uninjured leg, leaning forward with a quiet snarl."Though I was tempted to clean out their pockets when they started beating me up the minute they heard 'guilty'-and _I would've _if the Toads weren't so set on executing me right then and there. For a few minutes I thought I still had a chance to turn the tables but when they hit my leg hard enough to break it, I knew I wasn't 'gonna swipe anything from them, much less escape." He sighed, looking off into the murky alley, for a moment, somber. Then he chuckled. "And here I thought they were 'gonna ship me to Rogueport Square to be hanged-maybe I'd get a last meal or something, y' know?" Mr. L's tone was way too bouncy and his gestures too bright for the grim topic, but Mario could tell that Luigi was trying to not dwell on how narrowly he had evaded his own death, and not just any death, but execution in the kingdom they had lived in for so long.

But nope, they just couldn't wait that long-gahh!" He pat one of his legs, the burning pain in which made him writhe while standing. But with a great effort he off, wantung to minimize the pain in front of his brother. "Man, they hit hard! But, I swiped the 1,000 coins from some hapless tourist right here in Rogueport," Mr. L smirked. "And you're not 'gonna believe this, Bro-" he clapped his gloved hand on his brother's shoulder, eyes brimming with mischievous malice. "The tourist posted about it on the Trouble Board...thinking that some honest Rogueportese would return it to him for, 1,000 coins! Guy has zero financial sense! And his fashion sense was the pits too. Spealing of pits...for this number...check it out." He dangled a ruby necklace in front of Mario. "Lifted it from a Glitz Pit socialite. Her hubby's in deep with the Piantas. The disappearance of the necklace is a major embarasdment for them. Needless to say, the Piantas are having a fit!" Mr. L leaned back his body in a laugh despite his bruises. It was almost a cackle, unambiguously malevolent, and somewhat nasal.

"That's them now," Mario remarked, not nearly as amused. He knew his brother got some sort of thrill by showing him all the money and jewels he had stolen, and it was upsetting to Mario.

He was about to let him know how upset when he turned around and saw they had company.

"Where's that masked guy?!" shouted one Pianta, cracking a club against the outside wall of Zess T.'s house, which could be seen through the archway that separated East Rogueport from Central Rogueport. Mario wondered why the old Toad woman hadn't moved out of town yet.

"When I get hold of im I'm gonna wring his neck!" vowed another Pianta.

Mario sighed, moved out of possible sight away ftom the archway, and lowered his high voice to a whisper.

"After all that trouble you put us through, you want to stay like this? Alrighty, just keep Mr. L out of the Mushroom Kingdom.." Mario rolled up his red sleeves in a more overt threat.

Mr. L held up a big sack of coins.

Mario looked back at his back pocket, felt around it, and reddened with angry annoyance.

"Luigi...!"

Mr. L slipped his mask on again and took off out of the reach of the light down eastward through Rogueport's dark streets, blending with the dark in his black and dark green clothes, hopping the skull-lined fences, coiling, and clearing a nearby bright rooftop, landing badly and stumbling because of his injury. Mario took the long route, finding blocks and smaller buildings by feel and relying on his memory of the layout of Rogueport, to jump onto. Mr. L knew Rogueport pretty well too, but he didn't need to have a mental map of the place because of his jumping ability. On the roof, he looked up at the moon like he ruled the night, leaning self-assured and powerful.

Mario huffed a little as he got to the top, sweating in his red cap, one hand on his knee and the other with his hand planted on the rooftop floor.

"Give it back."

"Nah, don't think so, big Bro."

Mario ran at him while he was moongazing, laying him flat on the concrete.

"Ow! The cheap shot! You're learning!" grinned the younger brother.

"Luigi, did you really want to destroy all worlds?" asked Mario, sticking to their mother language but slowing down to let the weight of the words sink in. There was pain in his tone. The mask only let the whites of Mr. L's eyes show. They were narrowed with flippant, casual malice.

"Aw c'mon Bro..the Mushroom Kingdom itself found me innocent!" Mr. L turned his palms outward with a shrug, flat on the rooftop floor.

"I_mean_eet!" he switched out of Italian, emphasizing each individual word, showing a very pointed anger. Mr. L understood. Mario had never gotten angry at him like that before. Mario was fairly quick to get angry, but it was a tightly-controlled anger, just enough to win. But Mario had different levels of anger. The anger Mario had showed to him when he first tried to kill him was anger at fighting him, his own brother. It was also the anger he showed against an enemy, but not a major one. Maybe when he was brainwashed for real when he was one third of Super Dimentio, but he couldn't remember that as sharply. But this time, Mario for sure now had anger for him reserved for a major enemy. Mario's anger at him had turned to hate.

He was pleased.

"Well there's three variations-" he held up three fingers, covered in dark gray gloves instead of white gloves. "-same theme, right?" Mr. L closed his eyes, his tone muting from its earlier flippancy, but still venemous. "Bleck's first plan: destroy the world, make a perfect new one. That sounded not bad for the rest of the minions, but I wanted something more..." Still pinned by the weight of his brother, Mr. L lifted his hand, palm inward, and made a fist curling upward, a gesture of power but also of grasping ambition. "Bleck's second plan: destroy the worlds, leave all in ruin. Seeing Sammer's Kingdom wiped out was kind of a novelty at first, but it's hard to stir up trouble in an empty world. And I guess, when they weren't trying to hack into you with their swords, they were kind of fun to have around." At this point Mario had enough of his brother's casual malice and reached for his mask. "Hey what gives, Bro-?!" But Mario pulled Mr. L's mask off with not that much resistance. The older brother glared at the younger, only to be dismayed by his expression. Mr. L frowned, his eyes the color of a deceptively shallow body of water flashing cruel and contempt-filled. "What? Did you expect tears for guys who wanna kill whoever challenges them to a friendly sparring? That Sammer Kingdom tournament is to the death, in case you forgot."

Mario let his head sink in disappointment. He continued to hold onto the mask, keeping his stare level with Mr. L's, keeping the pressure on.

"That leaves Dimentio's plan. What was really going through your mind, Luigi?"

Mr. L really didn't want to keep humoring his brother, but Mario still was sending those threatening, bordering-on-hate looks at him. He liked Mario being mad but knew Mario might give him a hard thrashing, which would hurt way more than the thrashing the Toads gave him outside the courthouse. Mario was right, of course. He, Luigi, remembered everything he had done as Mr. L, Including getting stomped and humiliated by Mario twice-which was more than enough- and a third time which was hazy. He knew by experience that Mario was stronger, though he absolutely hated to admit that.

So, he gave an honest answer to his brother.

"You did tell him that rare card was a pretty sweet deal. The perfume "Demented by Dimentio" too..Tippi broke the charm, though. But when you refused his offer I got to thinking. How could we get it all without losing anything?" his tone was slinky and unsolid.

"All meaning?"

He burst out laughing, and with a surge of adrenaline he sprang sitting up, knocking his brother off of him. "The world, Bro! Better yet, ALL the worlds!" His unconcealed pupils dilated to wild dots and his grin twisted with avarice. Mario wasn't dismayed anymore, but actially a little frightened, his own pupils contracting but with fear. "Dimentio's plan: Destroy all worlds, create perfect new ones to rule over as king! Now THAT's an evil plan I can get on board with.." Mario remembered ghost Dimentio's near-to-last words before disappearing.

Who

Is Luigi?

Mario didn't know. And for the first time, he was realizing it. But he didn't know..at all? Or just some? He ventured an interjection, which was true, but also a bid to reach out to the brother he knew.

"But it backfired."

Mario breathed hard in dread, trying to control the nonverbal signals of that dread.

"Yeah, Dimentio pulled a fast one on me. After he knocked me out after you went on ahead to fight Bleck and I beat Dimentio, he put the Floro Sprout on me." Surprisingly, and to Mario's inward relief, it worked. "I got dumb...I just wanted to serve Dimentio, kiss his Mightyness's shoes and destroy the worlds to make way for whatever he thought were perfect worlds..." Mr. L's voice trembled with rage but also helplessness. "I didn't have anymore ambition or sense of who I was. Just the sense of being green." Mr. L, still sitting on the rooftop, grabbed his head in his hands, as if hurting because of his memory of being one third of Super Dimentio that sharpened and dulled in unpredictable flows. He went out of control, breathing too rapidly, his pupils wildly contracting and his whole body wracked with shivering. "That's all I could scream out. Green. Everything that wasn't you." His breathing slowed. His hands, loosely balled into fists on the concrete, unclenched, and he loosened his grip on the sack of money. "I could barely feel the blows that you and the others gave me, I was so out of it. It took you, Bowser and Peach jumping on my head to break the plant's hold on my mind."

"Take over the world..so you'll be a green Bowser," Mario mused, in an attempt to further diffuse the tension between them. He didn't remark to his brother about his affinity to Bowser, figuring being asked this question again, even though Mario was the one who'd ask this time, but he didn't, figuring it would aggravate him. He also didn't know how to comfort his brother, especially after his brother had the Chaos Heart pretty much having been shoved inside him, even if it was for a short time. If anything, the trial had forced them to come to terms with the trauma they both went through as a result of the whole Chaos Heart thing.

"Hilarious, Bro. But I'm already well on my way to ruling the world," gloated Mr. L as he twirled the ruby necklace he had stolen in his gloved fingers, stretching one leg out and relaxing against the ledge. "Soon I'd have swiped enough to get spare parts to rebuild Brobot!" Mr. L laughed with malicious anticipation.

"Green Wario, then."

"Grrrr!"

"Gotcha, Lil' Bro! I can joke too."

"Heh! Who would've thoughr?"

"You don't like food as much as Wario. Or me. While I'm on my third plate, you haven't even finished one plate..." Mario got hungry and pulled out a carton of spaghetti from his pocket and offered it to him, trying to further lessen the tension.

Mr L pushing down on one leg and then his hands to stand took one meatball, sat back down, and chewed it for a whole minute. Mario was nearly at the bottom of the spaghetti carton.

"Without missiles, though?" Mario asked cautiously, a noodle dangling out of his mouth. Mr. L rolled his eyes.

"Fine! Without missiles," Mr. L promised, trying to keep from remarking on the amount of sauce that had collected around Mario's mouth.

"But Luigi, do you have to do this?" Mario stood, looking down at his sitting brother. "Are you just going to destroy everything that is Luigi so only Mr. L is left? What do I tell Princess Peach?"

"Whoa Bro," Mr. L held up his hands. "-a little heavy on the drama, aren't we?" He jumped up, in the process snatching his mask back from Mario, but stumbling forward on his injured leg and feeling the blood rush to his head. "Let's get it straight, Bro." He got right in Mario's space with a long, aggressive stride, a shoulder rolled up and jutting forward.."I AM Mr. L. It's just me, Luigi-" he backed off, returning to an unthreatening distance from Mario. "-when i'm feeling a little confident, that's all "

"You mean a lot evil," Mario corrected. The last time Luigi had declared that he was Mr. L he turned giant and into a monster. Mario had doubted at first that Luigi had been the creature, and thought he was just inside of it, but Luigi had made it clear to him that he _felt_their attacks. It was Luigi's head they stomped on. He was their twisted and dangerous enemy.

But the red brother resisted showing apprehension.

Mr. L shrugged, his green bandana shifting. "Every Flipside has its Flopside." He straightened then suddenly leaned in, the sharpness of it startled Mario. Mario had scared him with a cheery "hi" when he was scared half to death in the Underwhere, so now it was payback. "Wonder where yours is, Bro-" he slipped the mask onto Mario. "Hm, not bad!" Mr. L appraised, then looked at the moon, growing contemplative. He lowered his head, eyes downward, this time in earnest. "But Bro, I was being too evil. I tried to kill you, Bowser, Peach..."

Mario, still wearing Mr. L's mask, reached out at him, resting his hand on his shoulder.

"Can you control..this side of you?"

Mr. L looked up, filled with resolve.

"No more destroying. It'll be just grand theft only."

Mario shook his head and shoved Mr. L, who flailed to keep his balance.

"You'll have to break out of jail if you're caught from now on. The Princess and the Mushroom Kingdom wouldn't forgive me if they found out I was looking the other way. And knowing you lied about not remembering what you did as Mr. L, and not being sorry for any of it except for trying to kill the Princess, me and Bowser and for not having control when you were Super Dimentio instead of being sorry for temporarily wiping the Sammer Kingdom out of existence, and that you nearly destroyed everyone and everything... and even now you're planning, right in front of me, to do even more crimes!" Mario gestured with exasperation. "I won't testify on your behalf if you land in front of a judge another time. Ok, Luigi?" Mario looked through the mask at his brother expectantly, who agreed,

"Deal. It's not fair for me to drag you into this," he had a moment of empathy. "Just one request: just when I'm dressed this way call me Mr. L only," his brother demanded, which confused the older brother.

"But Luigi, I know it's you-" But Mr. L insisted,

"Call me Mr. L! It's a safety thing for you, so they don't know we're brothers!"

Mario crossed his arms and nodded. Now he understood.

"And an ego thing."

"..Yeah, that too," Mr. L admitted. "And would you wipe your mouth already?!"

Mario wiped his mouth and curly mustache with his red sleeve. He smiled. At least Luigi hadn't turned his back on his neat-freakness and aversion to Mario's messy eating. "I'd better head back-" Mario paused, looking at his brother. It felt strange to call him this well after he had realized that Mr. L was his little brother, but he still honored his brother's request-"Mr. L."

Mr. L jumped with mischievous approval. Mario pulled the mask off of himself, holding it by jis side. "Oh and Mr. L...come home once in a while."

Again the venom came.

"Why would I wanna come home? To stay behind when you go on adventures? To cook?"

Mario soothed the snake.

"If there's ghosts scaring you, if you need a place to sleep, or if you just miss being called Luigi."

Mario held the mask out to Mr. L. Mr. L put his mask back on, but it didn't hide the tear that squeezed out of one of his eyes and rolled from under the mask.

"You..you got it, Big Bro. L-ater!" Mr. L waved, springing away and simultaneously dropping the sack of money while pocketing the ruby necklace. He switched out of italian again. "Deh Grreen Thunderrrrr" he trilled with wicked boisterousness, "strrikes again!" Just 'cause he liked the sound of his moniker in his second language.

Mario watched his brother jump high over the rooftops. In his mostly-black clothes his outline disappeared pretty quickly into the night, well ahead of the Piantas charging after him with not a clue that this was the man who had almost brought the end of all worlds, the man in Green. And now the man in Green had struck some kind of balance, between light and darkness, harmony and chaos..maybe...Mario mused..his brother was in pefect balance. Because he acknowledged his dark side and by nurturing it prevented it from getting too destructive like it did when he buried it deep within himself for no one to see.

Mario didn't have a dark side, or at least not beyond the usual ups and downs of people. Maybe he was the one out of balance. But that was the price to pay for being relied upon to save the kingdom. An unofficial retainer without having been born a Toad...

Mario glimpsed his brother strike with the elegance and force of a snake, sending a Pianta flying from below. Other Piantas, lots more, closed in on him. Mario ran to the edge of the roof. With a few stomps Mr. L laid them all out on the ground and stole all their money. Mario stopped at the edge of the roof where Mr. L had, maybe intentionally left Mario's money. The red plumber felt out of his depth..like his brother must have felt when tagging along with him. Mario yawned. It had been a long past few days and Mr. L clearly didn't need his help and as the dawn crept closer he didn't need to be seen helping Mr. L. So the red plumber made his way down to street level. He turned towards the docks, to take him out of Rogueport and off in a different and unknown direction.

END


End file.
